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Old 08-12-2016, 01:38 PM
 
Location: Turlock, CA
323 posts, read 373,102 times
Reputation: 492

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Quote:
Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly View Post
Not only that. School days used to be longer (which is probably why the school year used to be shorter). Most schools used to start 8AM or a few minutes past (8:15 at the latest) and end at least 3PM. Nowadays I see mostly 8:30AM start and 2:30PM (or earlier!) finish.
This is maddening as a parent. With a 8 AM - 3 PM schedule, you can drop your kids off on your way to work in the morning or at least be there when they get on the bus. Now, most places are starting class at 8:30 and specifying that you cannot drop your kids off any earlier than 8:00, which means you'll be late for work.

Really, an 8:00-3:30 schedule makes the most sense. That gives enough time for 7 periods, a lunch break, and get out at a reasonable time. The "early out Wednesday" thing also is entirely unnecessary. The yearly schedule can then be reverted as well since you're not having to add additional days to make up for squandered time during the year.
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Old 08-12-2016, 08:15 PM
 
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
7,646 posts, read 9,881,633 times
Reputation: 16449
I got the last good publuc education, graduated in 1970. School ended the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and started the Tuesday after Labor Day.

The best surf was in Aug and Sept and the water was finally warm.

I don't know why kids don't revolt!
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Old 08-12-2016, 08:33 PM
 
3,334 posts, read 2,256,170 times
Reputation: 2813
Very good responses, it appears nearly 70% of the population dislike the new trend even if it offers more breaks in between and ends the semester before Christmas break. Also I wonder does it actually improve test scores as forecasted? I read somewhere that educators around the country did a comparison of schools starting early and the ones that stayed the old schedule and but there is notable improvements in student performance or test scores. Also on the same documents states that the ten best performing school districts pretty much all started after labor day.

Though more and more school districts still fall for the early start improves student performance propagenda and move start dates earlier and earlier while turning a deaf ear on the irritated community who have to sacrifice summer for school. For some unknown reason most school districts in SoCal back in the 2000s stayed off this ridiculous band wagon and continued to start after Labor Day even though the rest of the state is starting much earlier, though I am very disappointed that they now jumped on the bandwagon in masses as well. I do wonder though what caused them to not embrace this trend earlier and what finally motivated them to embrace it.
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Old 08-13-2016, 01:55 AM
 
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
7,646 posts, read 9,881,633 times
Reputation: 16449
Probably relates to Common Core or some kind of liberal brainwashing. We learned plenty going for 9 months and got two weeks at Christmas and one at Easter. We called it Easter Vacation, not Spring Break. I don't know how that got going, probably another of the mandates by socialist school boards.
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Old 08-13-2016, 02:23 AM
 
Location: San Bernardino, CA
242 posts, read 313,098 times
Reputation: 175
California High School Exit Exam & then the other one that all school levels take in May.
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Old 08-13-2016, 02:37 AM
 
Location: Westside Puget Sound
301 posts, read 515,960 times
Reputation: 413

The shorter days (e.g. 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.-ish) have more to do with shorter recess/lunch periods. Giving students only a 10 minute break (it was 20 when I was in elementary in the 1970s) and a half hour for lunch means the time is compressed into a shorter day. How many schools have a built-in morning recess anymore?

I started teaching in a CA high school in the early 1990s. At that time districts were looking to cut budgets for lunch monitors. So shortening the lunch period was one way to do it. It sadly became routine practice instead of a short-term solution. Our lunch "hour" was around 36 minutes. This was just the length of time CA allowed so teachers didn't have to monitor students eating lunch; therefore, one less assignment teachers had to complete.

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Old 08-13-2016, 07:17 AM
 
Location: So Ca
26,573 posts, read 26,433,288 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by citizensadvocate View Post
I wonder does it actually improve test scores as forecasted?
In our district, it had nothing to do with test scores. There were too many absences during the week of Thanksgiving, and before Labor Day and Memorial Day. There were more inservices for teachers, resulting in the need for more pupil free days.
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Old 08-15-2016, 08:25 PM
 
Location: So Ca
26,573 posts, read 26,433,288 times
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So, why the shift?

1) It helps the instructional calendar
2) There’s more time to prepare for standardized tests
3) To make life easier for college-bound seniors

School's out for only part of the summer: Why classes are starting earlier and earlier - LA Times
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Old 08-16-2016, 02:47 AM
 
3,334 posts, read 2,256,170 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CA4Now View Post
In our district, it had nothing to do with test scores. There were too many absences during the week of Thanksgiving, and before Labor Day and Memorial Day. There were more inservices for teachers, resulting in the need for more pupil free days.
Interestingly I noticed some school districts particularly in SoCal originally added days in June to make up for in service days or the extended Thanksgiving break but still started after Labor Day. LA and orange County districts seem to holdout from the early start bandwagon much longer than school districts in the rest of the state. As I noticed back in the 2000s while many school districts in Norcal and other parts of the state had already switched to an earlier start calendar, yet pretty much all school districts in LA county and Orange County continued to uniformly start after Labor Day, therefore I used to be jealous of my peers in SoCal as they don't have to start school in August, that is until about five years ago when those districts suddenly caught on the early start fever as well. It appears these days keeping schools open well into June is becoming very unpopular with district planners for a variety of reasons they mention such as college schedules and testing in May. Though I wonder can the issues be solved without starting so early?

Last edited by citizensadvocate; 08-16-2016 at 03:22 AM..
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Old 08-16-2016, 06:30 AM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
77,772 posts, read 104,081,702 times
Reputation: 49243
Quote:
Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly View Post
When I was in elementary school the school day was 8:10 AM - 3:15PM.

Jr. High was not much different.

Nor HS, until Sr. Year, where I had enough credits that I only had to go 6 periods, ending my day at 2PM.
Here is how it went in the late 40s, 50s. and into the 60s in Los Angeles schools. We started the fall semester the closest Monday to Sept 15. Remember, there were all 2 story schools with no a/c. I think Los Angeles was the only school district that started that late: the rest started the day after Labor day, then got Admissions day off, sometime just a day or so later.

Schools hours: kindergarten: 2 sessions, you either went from 9am to noon or noon to 3pm. 1st and 2nd grade 9am to 2pm; 3rd grade you went til 2:30 and from then on it was 8:40am to 3:10pm. Why the strange staring times I have no idea. You could not cut your schedule if you had more credits. I know, that started many years later. I was in the Pasadena school district for a couple of years, I don't exactly remember the hours. From I am guessing there wasn't much change from the hours you went to school.

We also got less holidays and breaks and our Christmas break always started exactly one week before Christmas, regardless of the day of the week. We went back the day after New Years.

My feeling, school starts way to early, right at the height of the summer heat. I think starting after Labor is fine and I think there should be more consistency through out districts. In fact throughout the country there should be consistency to some degree. I do not believe in laws that would require all states to have the same staring dates: heck I don't want the feds telling me what to do period unless it is truly necessary.

As for starting dates: here some schools started last yesterday, some next week.
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